Plants
by Lanie Kay-Aleese
Summary: Yuki grows a wide variety of plants in his garden, and many of them have the potential to heal the heart and body. In a shocking accident, he discovers that catnip is one of those 'healing plants'. The events that follow will change his life forever. KxY
1. Chapter One ::prologue::

  
Yuki grows a lot of plants in his garden, and many of them have the potential to heal the heart and body. Yuki doesn't realize, however, that catnip is one of those 'healing plants'. The events that follow will change his life forever. K/Y slash. 

Disclaimer: Kyou/Yuki Slash. If that's not your thing, then don't read it. A rather alternating warm-cold Yuki Sohma picture. Not the standard fanfiction fare, but, it's just an interpretation of the prince in a less, or infinitely more, sentimental light. Non-canon pairing per se, but this is Fruits Basket. So who's to say if isn't? Also, there will be a sort of lemon in this story, so if that is not your thing, then please don't read it as well.

Plants  
_Prologue_

A dopple ganger of noon shadows drifted across the pine and cedar clearing. Plants, illuminated by the golden sun, waved gently in the breeze. The air was crisp and fresh from a mid-morning shower and a cold front from the mountains. Loose clods of soil still carried the scent of the summer. Here, practically untouched by the city, things could truly grow.

It was contentment, embodied in a garden plot and a pair of misty violet eyes.

As a sunbeam cast its' glow upon his head, breaking free from the shadow, it became apparent that the violet eyes belonged to a prince - and as the prince knelt to the rain-fresh soil, he was not stooping down but in fact bending to his throne.

His hands caressed a pale green shoot with helpless affection. The newborn leaned into his hands in a gentle reply. A simple conversation between creator and creation; master and subject, perhaps. But which was the master? Whom depended upon whom for sustenance? Whoever had started the garden did not own the garden, and the garden did not own itself. No - the garden and the prince owned each other perfectly. And together they grew, as if nothing else was missing.

Deep within the prince's heart, he knew it was a lie.


	2. Chapter Two

Plants  
Chapter 2

- - - - 

Yuki Sohma swept his palm across the ground as he looked for stray weeds, dead plants, or the signs of malicious bugs. The soil mingled, to his opinion, most wonderfully with the damp morning air. And his raddishes would be ready to harvest, soon.

"You look like you're coming along nicely," he murmured to a row of raddish heads. "Honda-san will be very pleased."

As Yuki stopped and twisted his hand in the soil, he found the beginnings of a plant that was definitely not a raddish. A weed? He frowned lightly and curled his fingers to capture the root. With a small grunt, he forced the plant out of the ground. A few pieces of dirt tumbled onto his slacks as Yuki stared.

It was not the typical weed that he'd been expecting. In fact, he was sad to have had to pull this one.

"Well," he asked it softly, "How did you get here?"

The uprooted weed remained silent. Yet the boy shifted his weight backwards, and settled himself more entirely on the ground to better consider the offending herb. He looked at the plant wistfully, and behind half-hooded eyes.

"It's good that Tohru didn't find you. She'd probably ask me what you were. I can't lie to Honda-san..." At this he looked torn between a smile and a frown. "...And if I told her your name, I doubt she would understand what you were doing here. Maybe she would think that I am trying to blackmail that stupid cat.

"Though she would not say that, not in so many words. She's rather trusting and I would feel ashamed to tell her what you're doing here."

The prince stood up and surveyed the garden plot restlessly, until his eyes at last landed on an inconspicuous clump of apparently planted herbs. Their light green shoots blended into the foliage, perfectly _natural_ and uninentionally placed. At least, that's how they would appear before they bloomed. Yuki looked at the pulled plant and its' oddly placed counterparts with quiet amusement.

"So you got mixed in with the raddishes by accident. I'm sorry you had to be pulled." At this, the prince paused. "I suppose, then... I'll try to put you to good use," he said, his eyes tender as he stuffed the weed into his pocket. "If nothing else, I could use you to drive that cat crazy..."

Yuki bent down to the soil once more, and brushed his gloved hand over the raddish heads, as if tousling the hair of a young child. A lone cicada let out a shrill call from the dense forest above.

He would weed his garden for another hour before going home for lunch.

- - - -

Yuki stood in the kitchen doorframe, leaning his left shoulder against the wooden edge. His sleeve fell back a few inches, exposing his pale skin, still a bit soiled from the uncovered wrists of his garden gloves. Tohru Honda, the established woman of the house, pleasantly scurried from the oven to the counters with skilled ease. The love that she put into this unfinished meal already made Yuki lightheaded. He inhaled the scent of fresh-boiled nigiri and exhaled with deep contentment.

Tohru suddenly turned around. "S-Sohma-kun!" She exclaimed, pleasantly. Immediately her eyes widened and she had the - adorable - audacity to feel that she had, somehow, not done enough: "About the secret base, I'm so sorry, this morning I wanted to go with you but Kyou-kun was so sick and Shigure-san was running from his editor and I had to make all the food and clean up the, ah, mess, and was so exhausted I went upstairs and accidentally fell asleep on my bed last night!"

Yuki turned away, clearly embarassed for soliciting such an apologetic reaction.

"It's okay, Honda-san-"

"Hai, hai," the girl put in, "I still feel so bad about forgetting to set my alarm. Silly me!"

The prince bowed his head and ignored the inaudible rambling, just hope to hear something other than the silence that had prevailed over the house for several days.

When at last Yuki looked up, he found that a nervous blush still remained plastered on her face. "- But tell me, how are the raddishes doing?"

"They should be ready soon. Perhaps, even, they could be harvested tomorrow. But I do not know about the cabbages..." A small whistle went off. "Honda-san, perhaps you should get that?"

"Oh! Right!" she suddenly exclaimed, refocusing her attention to a pot of boiling snow peas. Froth leaked over the edge of the pot and she jumped back in confusion. "Oh no! I nearly forgot about the snow peas! Excuse me! I hope you don't mind, Sohma-kun!"

Yuki's tone was flat. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

"Hai!" said Tohru automatically. Yuki watched her back for a moment, and narrow his eyes. Had she chosen to believe his masked, empty words? Or had she come to distrust him when he spoke in that disinterested tone? Did she notice his words at all? It hurt him that no matter what he might say, Honda-san would not say anything. She would not refute him or pry, and instead would trust him to his own devices - all for the sake of being polite. It was for this reason that Honda-san was a very good friend. Yuki watched her bustling form, and knew that she trusted him to talk to her if he needed to. But he needed someone who would come to him, first -- and in that way, Honda-san did not care for him enough.

Wait, _Honda-san does not care? No, that's untrue._ Yuki frowned at his own treacherous thoughts. Honda-san was wonderful, and he enjoyed her polite and positive attitude. Yuki knew that _he_ was the one whose attitude was cold and detached. But Yuki felt something missing in his heart and in his home, and Tohru was the easiest scapegoat to soothe his imagined tension. He couldn't deny his abrupt displeasure that something felt to be out of place. He just didn't know what that something was.

Yuki turned around from the kitchen.

"I'm going to watch TV," he announced. After all, he had nothing better to do, and the television could always fill the silence.

- - - -

Shigure came home just in time for lunch. It surprised Yuki for a number of reasons, the least being that Shigure came home in the form of a dog. It was also unexpected since both he and Tohru had thought that Shigure had been in his office - though it was strange to think of Shigure spending substantial time _writing_, after all - but Yuki had assumed that the pervert's editor, Mii-chan, had finally talked the novelist into a change of heart.

Yuki realized that this was giving his cousin far too much credit. But instead of voicing his apparent distrust of the dog, he sipped his freshly ground green tea and savored the taste of leaves.

The meal was missing its' usual luster. Yuki found himself actually wanting to know why Shigure had been gone. Tohru didn't seem to remember his absence. And since nothing was going on, _nothing_, in the entire house - family - _world_, it was the only occurance worth mentioning. Shigure had certainly caused mayhem somewhere, and that was far more comfortable than the awkward peace that had settled around Sohma Shigure's house.

The prince turned his head towards Tohru Honda, who was usually curious, and waited for her to bring up Shigure's awkward situation. And he waited. He found himself staring for a terribly long time, until at last he gave up and Honda-san promptly remembered the incident.

"...Oh, I see! You went to Ayame's shop?" asked Tohru, clapping her hands together in excitement, "I wish I could go to Ayame's shop again. There were so many beautiful clothes. It was very interesting, and Ayame is so talented desu..."

Yuki's head shot up, and he couldn't help but narrowing his eyes at the mentioning of his brother's name. And even worse, of that _horrible_ store; the store where his brother had practically violated Honda-san with a butter-colored dress. Shigure had barely popped a piece of chicken into his mouth before Yuki's eyes glittered with a threatening gleam.

"What were you doing there?" asked the prince, lowly.

Shigure blinked at Yuki as if he were an innocent victim of a wrongful accusation; or as if he had been arrested for inventing the cure for cancer. Yuki held the dog's guiltying stare and didn't even flinch.

"I was shopping while visiting Aya, of course..." replied Shigure, maneuvering around the question slylu.

"I asked _what_ were you _doing_ at that store! Not just who you were with!" Yuki then whipped around to face Tohru directly. "Honda-san, promise me this. If he gives anything to you, don't wear it, okay!"

"Aa, umm..." the girl stuttered nervously.

"Don't even _look_ at it!"

Shigure tossed Yuki an over-exaggerated pout.

"Now Now, Yuki! Don't scare Tohru-kun!" he chided. "I didn't say that I got an outfit for Tohru, ne ne?"

Yuki looked at the dog with utter skepticism.

"No, really!" said Shigure, gleefully clapping his hands together, "It's a get-well gift is for KyonKyon!"

Gift? For... the stupid cat? It took a moment for Shigure's words to sink in: _The cat. Ayame's Shop. The cat wearing something from Ayame's shop?_

A disturbing image flitted behind the back of Yuki's eyes, but he refused to let himself think on it, pasting instead a heavy expression of shock onto his face. Tohru appeared to be equally horrified - no doubt reliving the butter dress incident.

"You're disgusting," Yuki decided, after the brief pause. He then stood up with his plate in hands. "I'm going back outside."

"Mou, you'll bring Kyon-Kyon some lunch, won't you?" sang Shigure.

"No."

"Umm, Sohma-kun!" Tohru called out, her voice heavy with worry. Yuki didn't say anything. The only reply that she could find was the rattle of the slide-screen as he slammed it shut behind him. Tohru's eyes glanced to the floorboards in worry: He'd left his gloves by the door.


	3. Chapter Three

Plants  
Chapter 3

- - - -

Yuki bent over the shungiku and rubbed the dark leaves lightly with his thumb and index finger. He raised his fingers to his lips and flicked out his tongue to catch a single petal. The soft scent of the chrysanthemum played mildly in his mouth, and Yuki bowed his head in a gesture of kind cognizance. At last, the flowers tasted _ready_. 

"I'm surprised. You budded overnight," said the prince, smiling at the taste that lingered on his tongue. "You're ready early just for me, aren't you? I hope you don't mind if I pick a couple of your leaves and flowers." 

The five-inch plants shivered in response to the sweeping breeze and their gardener's soothing, melodious voice. 

"It's good, too, that you're ready. All those natural vitamins in your leaves; your petals, even... They'll help him heal. He's a fast healer, but I think that he's really sick this time. Hatori said he might not be well enough for school after this weekend. And the house is too quiet without him. 

Who'd have thought that I'd miss his voice?" Yuki murmured, his voice fading at the end. "It's the last thing anyone would suspect. He'd certainly never suspect anything, and it's better that way." 

Ducking softly, he gently held the base of a stem and snapped off a couple of its' blooms. The remaining petals shook, sending the last traces of morning dew into the dirt. 

Tohru came to the garden a little later that afternoon and helped Yuki in cleaning up the last of the plant roots. It had come to be a tradition for her, to help harvest the new herbs and keep Yuki company. He didn't need her there, but he didn't mind. It was nice to show himself to others, sometimes. And she tried to look out for him the best she could, which Yuki supposed, was a helpful thing as well. Today she came, waving about apair of garden gloves. Yuki looked down at his hands in mystery. He hadn't missed having his gloves at all. 

He didn't know what to say. 

Tohru didn't appear to notice his silence. In fact, Yuki figured that she never noticed that sort of thing. And true to form, Tohru filled the empty space with pleasant chatter from the moment she arrived, and far after the time she left, with Yuki in her tow. 

Then, suddenly, it was evening. 

- - - -

The tendrils of sunset creeped from underneath the cat's bedroom door. Yuki looked at the broken beam of orange light that played at his feet, and became flustered. The cat was lucky to see such a beautiful nightfall in the evenings, he thought. _But that stupid cat wouldn't appreciate that beauty. He doesn't deserve that room._ Yuki frowned slightly, looked up to the door, and he made a move as if to knock it - when he paused. He'd never knocked on the cat's door before, Yuki realized. Of course, he'd never been polite to the cat and there was no reason why he ought to start acting nice, just because the cat was sick. Instead, Yuki dropped his fist and kicked the screen door hard. 

And he kicked the door twice more, just for good measure. 

"Oi, you stupid cat! Open the door," he threated, "Don't make me break it down." 

A hoarse cough came from the other side. "Don't kick it, you damn rat!" 

Yuki felt an unwanted smile tugging at his lips. 

Because for some reason, the tension had spontaneously left the spot between his shoulderblades. He didn't care to deny that hearing the cat's voice made him feel better. After all, Kyou's voice - horribly annoying and loud as it was - made the house feel like... Home. 

The prince barely registered the doorknob turning before his vision was overwhelmed with the sight of Kyou. Ruby light from the sun framed the cat as he propped himself up on the doorframe: as the light struck him, ruby and gold emblazened the edges of his hair; a nearly-tangible radiance shone from his skin; embers burned lowly in his darkly crimson and sleep-sick eyes. 

"Yeah, what do you want?" the cat muttered, his voice rough. 

"I'm giving you dinner. Honda-san's worried that you aren't eating." 

The cat looked down at the meal, and at that moment Yuki noticed exactly how worn and sick his face really was. The cat's hair, which he groomed obsessively, stuck in a number of strange directions, clumpy as if the victim of night sweats and nightmares. His undereyes were bruised blue, as if they'd been dipped into a jar of india ink. The prince forced his eyes away and scowled for nearly caring. 

Kyou caught the boy's reaction and instinctively responded with a glare to match. 

"You... wanna fight, you damn-" 

"You're sick," Yuki said pointedly. 

"I don't care," Kyou insisted, breathing heavily at the mere thought of physical activity, "I can still beat... you. Then it'll just be more proof... that I'm better than you..." 

Yuki looked up and met the cat's eyes for a moment, stubbornly refusing to give into the pressure of sparing him a pitying glance. He stood for a moment in front of Kyou, the sunlight nearly blinding, and then he bent down, placing the tray of soup onto the ground. 

"..._Hey!_ Rat! Did you hear me? Or... what!" 

Yuki stood back up, his eyes still focused on the dinner tray. Three flower petals swirled in the sunlit bowl of soup. 

"Yes," said Yuki softly. And then he turned around, leaving Kyou to the wonder of a setting sun and the smell of shungiku chrysanthemum. 


	4. Chapter Four

Plants  
Chapter Four

- - - -

He wasn't a morning person. Not at all. And it was so early that it barely qualified as neither night nor morning, but that expanse of time inbetween.

But the rats had woken him with a warning of the first impending chill of the season. And that meant action, or his garden would cease to exist. So the prince bumbled out of bed by the prodding of his rodent affinities, reading his alarm clock twice before comprehending the blinking number: _4:48, 4:48, 4:48..._. He blinked twice, and after a pause, stepped into his house slippers. They did little to soften his clumsy footsteps when he bumbled downstairs.

The stars were still twinkling in the wide purple sky as he ventured outdoors.

A powder-dust thicket of frost crunched underneath his bare feet. The sting of the cold wind bit at his bare arms sharply. Yuki blinked slowly, realizing that he ought to wear a jacket, lest he freeze before arriving at his base. He turned around to face the screen door - and to his utter surprise, Honda-san stood in the place where the open door had been.

"Ohayo, Sohma-kun!" she smiled cheerfully. Yuki didn't have the energy to grunt her a reply, but managed to nod his head slightly. His head reeled with questions until at last he could pick out the most troubling of the bunch. He opened his mouth in an experimental fashion.

"Honda-san," he said, surprised at the coherence of his own voice, "Why are you up so early?"

The brunette girl brightened, as if she had been patiently awaiting this question.

"I saw you going outside, so, I had to get a jacket for you. In case you got cold and your asthma acted up, and then you became sick like Kyo-kun..." She suddenly grinned. "Oh, Sohma-kun, you're not wearing any shoes either!"

Yuki smiled. But his was darker, somehow; more of bitterness than her joy in playing the role of a mother to him, at this moment. The role of a nurse, to Kyou. "Ah. Is that why you woke, then? To take care of _him._"

"Ah... Hai?" asked the girl, clearly agreeing though she had no clue what Yuki was talking about. He tried again.

"About the cat, I mean. Were you tending to him this morning? Is he getting... better?"

Understanding dawned on her face. "Hai! He woke up cold this morning. But tomorrow he will be well, because of the soup you made him..."

"Honda-san, I believe you were responsible for making that soup."

She blushed at his sudden praise.

"I don't know about that! I made the soup but it would not have made him better had you not added your shungiku," Honda-san declared triumphantly. She stepped towards Yuki-kun and put the jacket into his arms.

"Put it on, Sohma-kun. We need to go to the garden and work very hard desu, since the ground is so cold now."

Yuki quickly pulled the jacket on, and looked at Tohru without really seeing her.

"Thank you," he said.

She laughed easily.

"Oh, it was nothing! The jacket was in the closet right nearby!"

Yuki shook his head and they began to walk to the garden together, with only one of them wearing shoes.

- - - -

"Look, Sohma-kun, the raddishes!"

Yuki turned from the Chinese cabbage and watched as Tohru beamed at the state of her turnips. Their heads had sprouted and grown with the appearance of health, but to see the uprooted vegetables filled him with an uncharacteristic satisfaction. The dark raddishes twisted at its' roots and damp earth clung to it in many places. A perfect creation, nurtured and now complete. Pride swelled up in his chest as he took in the sight of a job that he'd done well - not because of who he was or a vengeful spirit, but because of his hard work and his constant care. The contentment of his garden was still here, even if dampened by an outsider and a harsh attempt at frost.

An hour had passed and 6:00 was fast approaching. He felt a sheen of perspiration on his forehead, and wiped it off with the back of his hand. He had just harvested the rest of the shungiku and the mustard greens. Tohru was nearly done with carefully extracting the raddishes from the fertile soil. Next would come half of the Chinese cabbage, just to be careful. A second frost could become a problem for those...

"Will we have time to cut back the garden now?" Tohru asked, suddenly. "Ah- Ah- I mean... I'm sorry! I just realized that it's nearly time for me to start breakfast. I'm sorry. That was selfish of me to say..."

"It's alright," replied Yuki, neutrally. "You can go. I'll be bringing these inside. And this afternoon we can harvest the snow peas and broccoli. We'll cut them back when there is more time."

"Thank you, Sohma-kun!" Tohru exclaimed, and jumped up with obvious relief. "It would be awful if Shigure-san got his Sunday breakfast late, I would... Oh!"

Yuki looked up as he realized that the girl had left her sentence trailing by accident.

"Honda-san? What is it?"

"Ano, there are some weeds, Sohma-kun!" she looked up at him with worried eyes. "There are _many_ of them!"

Yuki shot up, startled. He'd just weeded two days ago! How could there be that large of an infiltration? Was it a fungus that he'd somehow overlooked? How had he allowed himself to become so distracted? He rose up and for once, didn't bother to wipe the dirt that had accumulated on his pant legs.

"Where are they, Honda-san?" he asked, his voice surprised but adamant. "Show me."

Tohru pointed to a clump of irregular greens. Yuki came up to her side with his lips set in a tight line.

"So, umm..." Tohru trailed off.

"Don't worry about those," he said shortly, before turning around and returning to the cabbage.

After the moment's shock, Tohru tried to warn Yuki again. "Hai, Hai, but there are clumps of the weed scattered all about this left side, Sohma-kun! They look healthy desu. What if they start taking over the mustard greens...? That would be terrible!"

"Honda-san," Yuki said politely, his back turned from her. "I planted those 'weeds' on purpose."

"Oh!" she exclaimed. Another embarassed flush spread across her cheekbones. "They do look unusual, really! I'm so sorry for mistaking them for weeds-"

"It's alright," the prince nodded at her. "They look unusual because _Nepeta Cateria_ is from North America, not Japan."

"Ne-pi-ta Ca-te-li-a?" she asked, fascinated, "Hmmm... I don't think I remember you telling me about it before!"

"Oh, I..."

"So what is it, Sohma-kun? I mean, what does it do? Haha."

"It..." He stood, rigid. Without meaning to, his hand reached for the pocket where he had put the 'weed' yesterday. "It has many traditional uses," Yuki told her, bending down to gather two cabbages into a basket. "For example, it is an effective meat tenderizer. It is often used as a yellow dye."

"Oh, that's amazing! And what a beautiful plant, too," Honda-san cooed.

Yuki looked at her and couldn't help feeling warmer. At that very moment, the dawn broke open in a downpour of gold.


	5. Chapter Five

Plants  
Chapter Five

- - - -

Tohru's breakfast display left Yuki and Shigure in equal states of awe. Each sauce, each bowl, was all arranged in a harmonic display that seemed to be patterned after the very essence of life itself. The colors, textures, and various scents of the food ensnared Yuki's senses madly. He simply stood for a moment and absorbed the steam that rose from a rice bowl topped with pork and warm croquettes. 

To Yuki, the meal tasted even better than it had appeared. Even though it tasted somehow different from the usual fare, it was not unpleasant at all. 

"This is very good," he said at last, between mouthfuls of rice. 

"Saa, saa!" agreed Shigure, "To what do we owe this pleasure?" 

Tohru tilted her head to the side, and as she smiled, her bowed hair fell across her shoulder. "Sohma-kun worked very hard in his garden this morning. He harvested some vegetables and I thought to use them fresh!" 

Yuki nodded at her response, noting how Tohru neglected to add that she, also, had been helping. "Thank you, Honda-san." 

"Hai hai, it really was nothing. Thank you for letting me use the plants from your secret base!" 

That girl could never take a compliment for herself, could she? 

"Mmm-hmm, right," Shigure cut in absently. He stretched his arms and let out a languid yawn. "Is Kyonkichi coming down for breakfast this morning? Or shall I eat this tender pork bowl for him?" 

"Don't be a glutton," Yuki retorted, resting his chopsticks on the right side of his plate. 

Tohru abruptly got to her feet, sputtering, "I'll take him some food upstairs right away! Kyou-kun will be wanting milk as well, I think." 

"No, Honda-san, don't do that!" Yuki found himself holding out a hand as if to stop Tohru, along with his quiet voice. "I'll take it to him, for you." 

After all, Tohru had to be exhausted from all the work this morning. 

"Oh no, really, I couldn't..." 

"Yuki-kun misses Kyoooon-Kyon!" Shigure exclaimed loudly, his eyes dancing with mirth, and his cheeks bulging with rice. Yuki's eyes widened and he quickly scowled. 

"Shut up. I'm letting Honda-san rest." 

Tohru blushed and opened her mouth as if to speak. Shigure swallowed and laughed. 

"You can feed Kyon-Kichi all you like, Yuki-kun!" he sang, "Don't let me stop you from tending to him! Ha ha ha!" 

"Ano..." Tohru mumbled helplessly. 

Yuki narrowed his eyes and stood up from the table, looming over Shigure. "You're undignified." 

This set the dog off into peals of helpless laughter, and the sound followed Yuki all the way upstairs. 

- - - -

Again, Yuki found himself outside of the cat's bedroom with a tray of food in hand. A wisp of rice steam shimmied to the ceiling as Yuki waited for the cat to open his door. The response was hastier than it had been yesterday. Yuki keenly heard the sound of the cat bumbling from his bed. A flash of envy struck the rat as he wanted to be sleeping, too. No one ever let him sleep this late in the morning. 

"You can leave the tray on the ground, you know." 

Yuki refocused his eyes and looked at the cat in the doorframe before him. Kyou stood, scowling, with hands in his pockets and a shirt that stuck damply to his chest. Two bags drooped from beneath his eyes, but not in the sagging way they had last night; his hair looked wet, as if he had just taken a shower, and it was realizing its' regular tangerine shine; his skin looked healthier and glowed. His eyes looked tired, but with a half-veiled alertness. He stood up straight, without having to lean on the doorframe for support. He was getting better, and it showed. 

The prince hoped sincerely that it was due to the shungiku. 

"Honda-san wanted to make sure you were awake," Yuki said, his tone betraying nothing. Kyou still rolled his eyes and took offense of the rat's comment. 

"_Of course_ I'm awake! That perverted dog made sure of it this morning when he threw a bucket of water on me!" snarled the cat, clutching his fists in a defensive pose. Yuki didn't miss the instinctive response, and immediately, he responded in part: with waves of relief that threatened to overcome him. Kyou was acting like himself again. Yes, Kyou was healing. He would be fully well by tomorrow, and then, everything would be back to normal. 

Everything. 

"Shigure also bought you a gift yesterday. He hopes it will make you feel better." 

"What are you even talking about!" Kyou scowled, looking at the plastic bag that Yuki had already dropped onto the floor. "I wouldn't trust a gift from that pervert. Who knows what the hell he's scheming? 

"It had better be something from Hatori or Shishou," Kyou added to himself. 

"Close enough," replied Yuki, secretly amused at the cat's angry response. At least someone else in this house had the decency to act suspicious of Shigure's actions -- especially when it came to the outfit that Shigure had so kindly bought for the cat. 

"You're quiet. What did you do," Kyou burst, suddenly, "What's going on?" 

Yuki sighed. "Nothing. And even if there was something, I wouldn't tell _you_." 

He waited for the cat's response: 'Damnit, stop doing that!' or 'What the hell's your problem?'. But nothing came for a moment, as Kyou regarded Yuki silently. His crimson eyes scanned the rat's features as if looking for a weakness; a flaw. 

"Whatever," he said, finally ending his inspection. Then, taking the tray roughly from Yuki's hands, he slammed the door in his cousin's face. 

Yuki hadn't expected anything less. 

But somehow, it still hurt. 

- - - -

A/N: Hey! Thanks for the reviews, y'all. Some good news for you, this entire story is already finished on my computer. I will be posting a new chapter every day until it's done. Secondly, about Tohru's 'desu': in Japanese, she adds the word 'desu' at the end of half-sentences to add politeness. So, she will say "arigatou gozaimasu... desu"! It is not something that can be translated into english very well. But canon Yuki mentions that it's an endearing and somewhat obvious trait of hers -- like saying "hai!" all the time. I just couldn't leave it out...! Finally, we start the slash in next chapter! And please review, it really does help. 


	6. Chapter Six

Plants  
Chapter Six

- - - -

Sundays were laundry days in the Sohma household. Tohru had advertised this schedule so many months ago, that Yuki wondered how such routines had never been part of his life. On these Sunday mornings, he would gather his clothing from the past week and entrust them to Honda-san's tender care. She had never proven unfaithful in her safekeeping with his clothes; she had even salvaged some messes that were clearly beyond repair. Most of those examples were results from his gardening. 

Yuki sat on his bed, calmly evaluating the status of the pants he'd worn on Saturday. They weren't his best pair, nor his utter favorite, but they stretched and fitted perfectly when he knelt to care for his garden. So he did not want the dirt stains to be there forever. 

There was something else about these pants that Yuki remembered, unexpectedly. He'd pulled a couple of his herbs and put them in his pocket. The prince reached over and pulled out a couple of semi-fresh leaves. They were difficult to distinguish as any specific plant leaf, and he mulled over this for a moment before putting them into his current pants pocket, and walking outside with his old laundry in his arms. 

Yuki had hardly opened the door when it bumped into something very solid. And, apparently, violent. 

"Damn!" exclaimed the hot-headed cat, carrying his own armful of laundry - or at least, he had been carrying an armful of laundry until he had dropped it, so as to clutch his injured head. 

"Watch where you're going, you damn rat!" shouted Kyou. 

Yuki narrowed his eyes. "You ran into me, you clumsy idiot." 

"I didn't-" Kyou's eyes widened, suddenly, and he bit his tongue in surprise. Slowly, his eyes fell shut and he pushed his nose forward into the air. Yuki watched in confusion as the cat took in a deep whiff of the air, and twitched the tip of his nose. 

"... Hey, do you... smell that?" Kyou whispered slowly. 

"No," replied Yuki, uncertain. He shuffled out from his doorway. "...What are you doing?" 

The cat didn't respond, but simply inhaled the air again, this time in Yuki's direction. Something about Kyou's actions looked strange, detached, unnatural, and sent warnings crashing through Yuki's mind. He didn't know if Kyou was about to faint or to attack or to open his eyes and ask him the very same question. But Kyou was definitely about to do something that wasn't part of his typical behavior. 

Abruptly Kyou leaned in, sniffing the air in front of his cousin deeply. The boy's nose had wandered, as if on its' own accord, towards Yuki at a distance of a foot, and closing. Kyou kept coming closer, and closer, taller than Yuki butbending down as if to evaluate a mystery; he was barely inches away and breathing deeply, his eyes still closed in some sort of meditation. 

Yuki found, to his digust, that he was trembling. Anxiously, he dug his fingers into his palms. 

Kyou's senses pricked at the moment. He had found his target. 

Immediately, much faster than Yuki had ever seen him move before, Kyou was on his knees and Yuki's laundry was scattered about the ground. Kyou's face had dropped as well and had was burrowing itself into Yuki's shirt and hands, into Yuki's hands. Kyou rubbed his nose against the shivering digits and his soft lips brushed againt the heel of the prince's palm. Yuki let out a gasp of surprise. Part of him was shocked at how it felt as if the cat were worhsipping his very fingers, and the sudden thought frightened him into reality: Kyou was doing something that he would regret. Yuki's eyes widened and he swiftly pulled his hand back. Yet somehow, it became caught again with Kyou's desperate grip on his arms. 

"Let go of me," Yuki demanded, his voice wavering only slightly. He craned his neck left and right in the hallway, wondering if he could shout for help. Wondering if he could bear the embarassment of shouting for help. And wondering if he could bear being under such strange minstrations, without responding in kind. 

Kyou growled possessively, clinging to his captive and smiling with that strange, sedated look in his eyes. He pulled Yuki's hand back to his nose more forcefully, sniffing it once, before sliding his tongue between his lips and softly licking Yuki's palm. 

The pleasure that racked through Yuki's body was unbearable to contain. 

"_You stupid cat,"_ he moaned in a bumbled mush, his entire body hyper-aware of the lovely feeling of Kyou's soft and nubile tongue, lapping at his palm and fingers. At one point, Kyou's tongue darted inbetween two of his fingers and he began to suckle the area needily. A pleasured growl escaped the cat's mouth, and suddenly Kyou had withdrawn his head to a couple inches back. He tilted about woozily before he went _completely_ limp in the prince's arms. 

Yuki threw out his hands to break the cat's fall. It was uneccesary. The prince could barely even see what was happening, and was entirely unable to think at all when Kyou swept his arms around Yuki's backside. Kyou pressed his shoulder up against Yuki's thigh and dipped his head into the rat's soft, yielding flesh, and began intently nuzzling his hipbone. 

It didn't matter to Yuki that there was cloth over his burning skin. He had never felt an ecstacy like this before and found himself desperately eager to continue its' temporal presence. Yuki moaned in surprise and pleasure, his hands reaching for something steady and launched out in all directions until finally grabbing at the firey swirls of Kyou's hair. The boy continued to rub his chin and forehead against Yuki's leg, his hands resting on Yuki's stomach, chest, and back. At one point Yuki could have sworn that there was a throaty humm that vibrated against his flank -- a purr. Yuki indistinctly moaned something in reply, and an aching need built deep from below his bellybutton, rose unbidden with a searing heat in his groin. 

And then, just as unexpectedly as it had started, it stopped. Everything stopped. 

Kyou threw himself back onto the ground with wide, dark crimson eyes. No longer balanced by Kyou, Yuki fell back as well, his legs sprawled out and his breath coming in pants. Kyou was panting also. Most disturbingly, they were breathing in the exact same time. Yuki shut his eyes and blocked out the offending image. This whole... thing... that did not make sense. His thoughts ran amuck with the hurried effort of putting pieces together, trying to put himself back into the here and now and into consciousness again. And worst of all, Yuki had no idea what would happen when he reopened his eyes and was forced to look Kyou in the face. 

And Yuki knew there was no way to deny the feelings that had been surging up in him throughout the past week, and all those feelings from _before_ then. Because this had happened and left no room for question that he had no control over his body or who he decided to care about, because it would be so, so much easier if he felt this way about Tohru. But it was the cat, and Yuki - as much as he hated himself for it - was glad that it was the cat. 

He opened his eyes. 

In front of him lay the upstairs hallway; empty but for himself and for two piles of laundry. He found himself covering his mouth, shocked, for just a moment. With trembling footsteps, he backed against his door and eased through it, forgetting the laundry, but forgetting nothing of the encounter. 

- - - -

A/N: The weekend from hell is over! I was called in to cover two extra 8-hour shifts this weekend. I had four hours of sleep last night and tomorrow is summer school. Ack! I will do my best everyone. I am sorry for the delay. This new turn is thrilling, no? 


	7. Chapter Seven ::lemon::

Lemon warning. 

Plants  
Chapter Five 

- - - -

The bedsheets swirled around him like Kyou's hair had in his fingers. Yuki sighed deeply as he sunk deeply into the futon. His eyes were shut tightly, in an attempt to block out the visions that fed his arousal. He didn't want to do this, it was embarassing and it went against everything that Akito had ever taught him. He wasn't supposed to feel - but that's all that he could do, all the nerves hyper-aware and the feel of his skin against the warm but slightly rough blankets, and the tight waistband of his boxers, and his palm resting over his rapidly beating heart.

A heart that hadn't stopped pounding since he'd dropped his laundry in the hallway.

Yuki willed everything inside of him to make these feelings go away. But he couldn't be cold when his entire body was on fire. His blood pulsed like liquid mercury through his deepest marrows. He was so hard that he couldn't stand without biting down his lip and drawing blood. Blood, like the color of Kyou's eyes. Oh, god...

Yuki felt his hand traveling against his will. His fingertips fluttered across his stomach before moving down to his waistband, not even pausing before divesting the offensive clothes. Yuki moaned and arched his hips into his hand. He turned his face to the side and buried it deeply in the pillow. Sensation overpowered him, flashing through his thoughts in flashes of heat and undefinable need: he imagined Kyou's incredible tongue on the back of his hand; his tongue darting out from between Yuki's knuckles to touch his trembling arousal; his mouth working to swallow him completely. He thrust his hips at his invisible lover, and gasped, a sheet of sweat breaking out across his skin.

_Oh, yes, I hate you,_ Yuki whispered, willing himself not to cry.

Kyou, naked in the moonlight. Kyou, smiling warmly into his thigh. Kyou, with one of Yuki's fingers inside of him. Kyou on his knees, being completely filled by Yuki and begging for it harder, harder, harder, and the feeling of being inside Kyou completely, swallowed by tight heat. And then Yuki on his back, with Kyou holding up his slender legs over his shoulders, before thrusting into Yuki all the way, again, and again, until they both came, like one person, and they were inside each other and _they were complete,_ and Yuki stifled out a cry.

Yuki peeked open his eyes and eyed the mess on his stomach.

But no matter how much Yuki wanted to be complete, somehow, the hope only left him empty inside.

And... cold.

- - - -

Lunch happened less than an hour after the incident. Kyou happened not to be there, and for the first time in days, Yuki was glad of it. He simply tempered his relief with a gross display of dislike, so not to make the others suspect anything. So naturally, both Shigure and Tohru knew immediately that something was amiss. Fortunately, only one of the two had the audacity to ask of it.

Yuki had been placidly thinking of his garden harvest when a tactless question jumped off of Shigure's tongue. "You must have beat Kyon-Kyon up very badly, for him to not want to eat! What did you do to him?"

"I didn't do anything," said Yuki, looking at the lunch display. This one was very pretty, also. Tohru must have been working harder than usual on creating a beautiful design for serving her meals. "Honda-san, this meal is very good," he said.

Tohru didn't have time to respond before Shigure cut in: "But you're not eating, Yuki-kun. You're eating just like a mouse."

Yuki frowned softly, not willing to muster the effort for a challenge. "I am possessed by the rat, Shigure. With that comes certain privileges. For example, you have the manners of a dog."

Tohru became flustered."Yuki-kun, umm, surely you didn't mean that-"

"I concede on my manners, for Tohru-kun's sake," Shigure grinned,"But Kyon-Kyon still needs to eat, as you. Perhaps I'll go upstairs and get him...?"

"-NO!" Yuki broke in, torn up by the images of Kyou being out of his senses, Kyou driving his senses to madness. And Yuki, horrified, had no idea if Kyou was still out of it and if he came near Shigure - or Tohru - something awful might happen. And someone like Shigure would not deal with the cat in such a chaste manner as he had - Kyou would be taken advantage of, and no one deserved that sort of a rape. Another part of Yuki admittd that he didn't want anyone being touched by Kyou, either.

"No Kyou-kun then, Yuki?" Shigure sighed dramatically. "Oh, well, I knew your truce with him would never last."

"Truce?" asked Yuki.

"You made a truce? That's wonderful-" Tohru beamed.

"No, Honda-san. There was never a truce. I can't stand to look at that stupid cat and if he wants food, he should get it himself."

Later that afternoon, Tohru brought Kyou his lunch. But he wasn't in his room.

Nor was he anywhere else in the house.

- - - -

A/N: It was hard to post this one! The lemon was making me so nervous - I didn't want it to be over-smut or the opposite,but personally, I'm glad it's there: Now we definitely know how Yuki is feeling, hmm? Thanks for the reviews - they really make me feel warm and glee-ous inside. Next chapter! Yuki is, for the lack of a better word... emo. He needs a hug. Next chapter tomorrow, esp. since this one was so short...


	8. Chapter Eight

Plants  
Chapter 8

- - - -

Yuki decided to go to his garden that afternoon. He knew that the afternoon wasn't the best time to do gardening, but he didn't want to be in that house, that damn house that reminded him of that damn cat who he couldn't stand, who was absolutely- 

"- horrible. I can't even look at him," Yuki growled, furiously clawing his fingers into the packed dirt around a bunch of Chinese cabbages, sitting placidly with open leaves to take in the boy's voice. "He makes me so angry. He makes me... lose control of my actions. I hate it. I hate him. 

Yuki curled his hand into a fist of dirt and root. His eyes darkened as he cast them down. 

"I hate... this curse. I hate this family, I hate being the rat, I hate how everyone treats me and how I don't have the guts, the damn guts to do a thing about it. For all my life I was afraid of Akito. Now - now I'm just sorry for him. I pity him. He hates himself... Just like me. But he can do whatever he wants. He's god. Me, I'm the one who carries just as much of the curse as he does. I can't do anything. I can't do anything but hate. And that's why I don't want to hate, why I find myself not hating everything... that I have to hate. And hating what I ought to love. I can't be happy, no matter what. 

"I hate it," Yuki whispered, releasing the dirt and lowering his head to the earth. He closed his eyes and his purple hair twisted across the ground. "I hate me." 

The breeze ruffled his white sleeves, a gentle reassurance of harnessed power in the midst of early fall. 

"...You don't know how to hate," Yuki murmured, opening his eyes to the plot of plants. "You don't judge. You just love and grow. Why can't everything be so simple? Why can't I just nurture things in my life and know that it will mean something?" 

The plants tilted their stems towards the voice of their prince as he recited his mournful soliloquy. The afternoon sun was lost in the clouds overhead, neither dark nor bright, but an awful and endless grey. 

Yuki lifted his head, and turned his cheek into the clumping dirt. 

"You know," he whispered, to the plants who would always listen even if they never understood, "He... smelled me today. When I came out of my room, he attacked me and lost his mind. He licked me and purred and acted like a cat - like a cat completely enthralled with something fantastic. But it wasn't him, it wasn't something normal or explicable. He was delirious, from being sick." 

Yuki furrowed his brows. "Of course, it could've been from you. When he was sick before, he never acted this way. It had to have been you who did this. To mock me. To make me feel more miserable than I already was. To make me feel hopeless; to blind me with that truth... and to lose control again," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "Is that it? Is this some ploy to make me lose control? 

"... I used to never speak, for a long time, because it was easier. Now I speak but I don't say anything. What's the good in that? It's not me. And the only time when I am myself, it is... hurtful. I put out a part of myself and it's rejected." 

The prince turned to face his subjects, who cowed beneath his angry eyes. "You. I put my heart into you, and now, that stupid cat - will hate me. He'll have a reason to hate me, unlike before. The only person who could ever understand me was scared away... because he understood me. Because I put my heart into you, and you betrayed me by seducing him against his will." 

Yuki turned away. 

"So... I'm not going to let you have my heart anymore..." 

He stood up with pale lips twisted into a despairing frown. 

"No one. Nothing. Ever again." 

- - - -

Tohru said that Kyou had reappeared some time in the early evening and promptly went into his room. This was all speculative since Tohru generally was too ditzy to know what was going on right before her face, but as it was the only information that Yuki overheard, it was all he knew. Kyou'd been training outside, apparently. Shigure shrugged it off, outwardly; Tohru smiled brightly; Yuki didn't respond; and no one in the house actually believed the cat. Yuki didn't care to call him on the bluff, however. Yuki didn't want to see him at all, because as far as he was concerned, he had better things to do with his time than to fight over whatever that stupid cat did, or didn't, say. 

Dinner came in a predictable fashion for Sunday evenings, fitting the formula of fish and fried rice. The particular dinner that Tohru had made was miso salmon, which generally pleased everyone -- even Kyou who loathed miso. He didn't say anything about it, and returned upstairs to eat Honda-san's meal in his own peace. Which was a shame on his part: Again, the setting was lovingly arranged with bursts of color and spices and textures and types of food. Shigure babbled over her display endlessly, and nearly caused Tohru to faint from too much blood rushing to her head. Yuki had nothing to add. 

Everything tasted bland. The rice, the salmon, the green tea, it all tasted the same. Like nothing; simple grits in his mouth. Yuki forced it down for the sake of etiquette, but didn't bother to clean his plate as he usually did. 

He just stood up and walked out of the room without saying a word. No 'thank you, Honda-san', or, 'The meal was delicious', or even a slightly angry, 'I'm going to my room'. He said nothing. 

Just like the way he felt. 

- - - -

Thanks for the reviews, guys! Umm, I think Yuki is feeling too guilty for manipulating Kyou. But that's a good idea. 


	9. Chapter Nine

Plants  
Chapter Nine

- - - - 

That evening, Tohru had received an unexpected phone call from work. 

"I have to cover for a friend!" she had exclaimed, hurriedly taking a pot out of the refrigerator. Yuki stared at the floor panels while she rambled. "It will be fifteen minutes when I have to arrive! I can't cook tonight, I'm so sorry! Demo, I have some leftovers from two nights ago, remember? Kyou-kun is a very good cook. He can make riceballs and soup with this, or he can make a rice bowl from last night's meal if I ask him. I am so sorry, Sohma-kun..." 

"It's alright," Yuki remembered saying. 

He did not come down for dinner. 

Shigure, wisely, said nothing of it. Yuki didn't know what to think about this new attitude. He sat at his desk and lightly rapped his mechanical pencil on his math book. Perhaps the dog knew better than to risk his life with a stupid comment. After all, Shigure wasn't _too_ stupid. And it would be impossible for him to ignore the fact that Yuki and Kyou had not fought for nearly two entire days, nor even acknowledged each other's presence, and wouldn't even walk to school together. The dog, in an uncannily polite and sympathetic manner, seemed to respect the situation. Yuki was grateful. That cat, he speculated, would probably be more irritated by Shigure than ever. He nearly smiled before he stopped himself. 

Yuki's thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a gentle knocking on the door. His hair stood on ends and he froze in his seat. 

"Yuki-kun," the voice sang out softly, and immediately Yuki's shoulders dropped in relief to hear Shigure's voice. "Yuki-kun, I brought you some dinner." 

When Yuki opened the door a moment later, all he found was a half-cold ricebowl and three creamcorn croquettes on a tray. After looking down the hallway in both directions, as if worried that someone could be watching him, he picked up his meal and softly closed the door behind him. 

He did not eat the food immediately. After all, Kyou had made it, hadn't he? 

Thirty minutes later, he had looked up to the food over his math homework, a couple of times between algebra sets. A wisp of hopeful steam rose from the three croquettes, and to Yuki's surprise, his stomach growled in response. The prince suddenly remembered that he'd forgotten - or chosen not - to eat lunch that day. He picked up the croquettes with his chopsticks and looked at them curiously. He paused a moment before bringing them to his lips. 

They melted in his mouth like warm honey. 

The rice bowl was bland. 

- - - - 

Tuesday came and went like a passing wind, in spite of his student council meetings that meant absolutely nothing, and that annoying girl, Machi, who meant even less. Wednesday threatened to be equally meaningless, and it was for the entire morning. At lunch time, however, Yuki found himself cruelly woken from his nap. He turned his head in his arms and stared up at his offending classmate. He stared at her emotionlessly - not willing to waste his energy asking about her intentions. 

Besides, she responded to his challenge in a way that Yuki had come to expect. She grabbed him by the shoulder, and pulled him up to look at her, with a feral glint in her eyes. 

"Hey. What's wrong with you. Tohru's been worried sick," said the yankee, a scowl deeply embedded onto her face. Yuki refocused his attention to the roots of her bleached blonde hair. 

The words came without him needing to pause. 

"Tell Honda-san that I'm fine." 

"That's bull-shit," Uotani growled, dropping Yuki's shoulder and letting him slump back onto the desk, "And I'm not gonna lie to Tohru. She's my friend, and that's not right. It's not right for you to act so indifferent about lying to her either! You need to fix that damn attitude or else-" 

"I don't care." 

"... What?" Uo was honestly taken aback. "What the hell does that mean?" 

Yuki blinked slowly, still partially absorbed in his nap. "If Honda-san is worried, she can talk to me herself. Besides, I haven't been doing something wrong, have I?" 

"What - You - Damnit, don't try to lead me off track! I know something's going on with you, and that catlover is involved in it too. I haven't seen you two fight all week. I've barely heard you talk at all. It's unnatural." 

Yuki frowned and sat up from his desk. Unnatural? She had no idea what unnatural was. She had no idea what was worse that not fighting; what could be so _unnatural_ and _cruel_ what it made giving up the only way to survive. But still, knowing that she could never understand, she insisted on caring about Tohru - and through her love of Tohru, she cared about the Sohmas. And whether Uo knew it or not, caring about the Sohma meant caring about their dark secrets. How could she have so much empathy? Why was this, to Yuki, the most unnatural thing of all? 

"It doesn't involve you," Yuki said. 

"Like hell it doesn't. Tohru is my friend," Uo replied immediately, "You're hurting her by suddenly acting so cold to her, not just everyone else. And - and that pisses me off. So whatever's going on, I don't care. Just get it worked out, or there will be _blood_ to pay!" 

With that final threat, Uo turned around and stalked off to where Hana was waiting at the door. Yuki trailed her with his eyes until she was out of his field of vision, at which point he collapsed onto his desk once again and tried to remind himself that Honda-san did not deserve to be treated coldly. 

He just didn't know what else to do. 

- - - - 

More angsting! I'd like to thank everyone for their really sweet reviews. I'm glad you like the descriptions and, ahm, unusual plotline. Writing a 'manufactured' plotline oftens gets more response and praise, so it means loads to me that you all are appreciating somthing different. Of course, there will be absolutely 'mad fluff' coming up soon. I originally wrote this story as a one-shot, but it came to be 20,000 words or such, so I decided to break this up into a novelette. In any case, that's the explanation for the lack of slash and not-quite-chapter-oriented story design. It will also explain the two straight chapters of slash that will be coming up very VERY soon! Thanks for reading you guys! 


	10. Chapter Ten

Plants  
Chapter 10

- - - -

Yuki had no excuse this time. 

Tohru had specifically mentioned how she had made this meal with leeks and chives from his own garden. Leeks and chives that they had _planted together_. And she wanted to enjoy them with him. Yuki wanted to humor her. He was still feeling bad about what Uo had told him earlier, so when she began to chatter about planting more herbs in the garden, he didn't mention that the garden no longer existed. In fact, he didn't want to say anything, just smile softly and nod - Until she added that she hoped that her entire household would eat together for the first time in nearly a week. This left Yuki in a distinctly bad mood. 

He knew that at some point he would have to face everyone, but it was still sooner than he would've liked. It had only been three days since the incident, and Yuki knew that Kyou didn't know what was going on or else he would've attacked Yuki long ago. No, Kyou had not gone around and blamed Yuki for his horrible life. And for once, it really was _'all the damn rat's fault'_ because he, he had been too damn stupid to walk around with catnip in his pocket and his heart on his sleeve. 

Even if he wasn't being blamed for the situation, Yuki couldn't help being bothered by the results of Kyou's actions. Did Kyou see what effect his touch had made on the rat? While the rational part of Yuki's brain hoped that Kyou had definitely, definitely not noticed, a more prominent voice in his brain shouted that he, Yuki Sohma, didn't care at all. 

Yuki had decided, after all, that he didn't care. That way, there was nothing to lose. 

So, there was nothing to lose if he were to confront the family. If he were to sit down and eat Tohru's dinner. With that stupid cat. And that dog, who would be laughing behind his hand the entire time; and Honda-san, who would think that the entire world was right again because they were all sitting together as a 'family'. 

- - - -

Yuki didn't notice how the food was arranged in a display of orange, red, and purple shades. He didn't notice how the table seemed crowded and quiet, even while Honda-san talked all about her day and the fun that she and her friends had had during their home economics class. And Yuki definitely did not notice that Kyou was wearing the shirt that he'd been carrying to the laundry on Sunday morning. 

"-Right, Sohma-kun? Sohma-kun?" 

Yuki looked up from his plate and into Honda-san's questioning gaze. "Excuse me," he said, "could you repeat that?" 

"Hai!" she giggled, unable to keep her excitement in, "I saw Uo talking with you at lunch today, and then I wondered, was it about Student Council business?" 

Yuki couldn't see Uotani giving three hells about student council, and it was even less likely to imagine her wasting free time discussing it, but he decided not to waste his time making Tohru upset. "No, Honda-san. We were discussing nothing of importance." 

"Oh, that's too bad. Hana said she was sensing some strange electric vibes from you, and wondered if you were alright." 

"I am." 

"Um, it's just, I was worried. It would be awful if you've gotten sick like Kyou-kun had been..." 

A heavy silence rested between the two boys, and Yuki could _feel_ the tension in a different way than he he ever had before. The silenc left Tohru to wonder what she'd just said and she bumbled about to fix it with widened eyes. Shigure happened to be the one to cut into the conversation, like a knife through butter. 

"WELL! Tohru-kun, that was a delicious meal. I'm so stuffed after eating all of my serving, and Yuki's." 

Tohru's jaw dropped in shock. Her attention were immediately diverted. 

"Oh-o!" she exclaimed, confused as to whether she ought to chastise Shigure or - no she could never do that I mean it was _her_ fault after all, "Excuse me! I'm so sorry for not making enough food for everyone! I did not mean to make you starve!" 

Yuki could practically hear the thought process in her head. She was predictable. 

When Kyou spoke, Yuki immediately took attention. It was the first time that he had heard the cat talk, since when he had been purring into his hand. 

"Give the rat my food. I'm not hungry," Kyou said shortly, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. He stood up, not even glancing at the table and pushed his hands into his pockets. Yuki could have sworn that he'd never seen Kyou so eager to - consciously - deny Honda-san of anything, and especially, deny her the enjoyment of watching him eat her meals. Instead, he'd given that up for Yuki. 

Tohru became flustered again. Yuki wondered if there was ever a time when she didn't exist in a total state of shock and disorientation. As long as she remained in this house, the chances had to be very slim. 

Besides, Kyou's comment had left a fine blush had spread across his cheekbones. 

"Hey Yuki-kun," sang Shigure, waving his chopsticks in front of Yuki's plate, "are you going to be eating that?" 

- - - -

The prince, having declined Shigure's offer, marched up to his room with a solemn, masked expression. The stairway melted into the hall, where Yuki hesitated, wanting nothing more than to leave the house altogether. To disappear into the billions of people, neglecting his family honor and his past. Except, of course, he had nowhere to go. Yuki knew that he would never be so brave to disappear, to live on his own. He wasn't like Honda-san. 

He approached the door to his room with a lingering sigh, his room had never been an adequate refuge and it would have to do, now, since it was the only place... He walked inside. 

Near the window, Kyou stood with his back to the doorway. 

Yuki covered his mouth, only barely able to keep down the bile that churned in his stomach. 

He was not ready for this. Kyou never chose the right timing for this kind of thing. Why, why did he have to...? 

"Why are you here?" he asked, with thinly covered disgust. It was the only emotion he could muster in his voice, without betraying the fact that he was trying so hard not to care. Still, Kyou flinched. The minute sound was powerfully audible to Yuki. Goosebumps were scattered across his pale arms. The rat's instinct pulsed madly in his blood: _flee! flee! flee!_. 

"Tohru... wanted me to talk to you. She thinks it's her fault... That..." Kyou's hand found its way into his fire-glazed hair in an unconscious gesture of indecision. "I... I'm tired of avoiding you, okay?" 

Yuki moved from the door and closed it carefully behind him. He leaned against the wood and folded his arms, in what he knew to be a detached and cold gesture. If he got too close to Kyou, after all... He would melt. That's just what fire did. 

"So, what now?" asked Yuki, his eyes fastened on the opposite wall, "If that's why you're here, then why don't you talk?" 

Perhaps the most unnerving thing, Yuki realized, was Kyou's calm attitude. He was emotional, yes, passionate, definitely... but never had Yuki seen this before. The cat hadn't just attacked him or demanded answers. He wouldn't make eye contact, wouldn't throw a single fist, as if... as if he were afraid that simply touching Yuki would wither him into dust. 

"Look, I don't know what happened, okay?" From the corner of Yuki's eyes, he saw Kyou curl his hands into tight fists, and then relax them, as if he were a cat retracting his claws. Yuki knew that, for some reason, Kyou had something difficult to tell him. A buried hope flickered from deep within his chest. 

"I just... there was some sort of smell and... I didn't know what I was doing... and I couldn't help it. It wasn't me. It wasn't my fault. It wasn't." 

_No,_ Yuki agreed. _It was my fault... because I'm-_

"When... that happened... it was like I was possessed all over again. And... And I hate it! I hate not being in control! And... I can't even fight you now... Not if that smell is there again... Or I'll... do something stupid again..." 

_- because I'm a fool._

"It doesn't take much to make you stupid," Yuki snapped, a fire burning his soul and in his eyes. He'd rehearsed this conversation to himself hundreds of times: that the strange reaction happened out of the cat's control. But hearing Kyou say it still hurt, it hurt more than Yuki had known he was able to still hurt. After all, he had hoped that maybe, just _maybe_, Kyou had acted from his heart. 

"Don't you realize that _it_'s not happening anymore? That you can still fight me? Hit me. Unless you're scared," he snarled. 

"I'm not scared," said Kyou. 

"Then come on. Do it. Hit me," Yuki pushed. The cat was silent for a long moment. Then, suddenly, days of pent-up emotion burst forth and Kyou turned around with a feral glint in his eye. He lifted his knee, and spun around with a flying round-house kick, which Yuki quickly blocked by stepping back to the left and blocking down, moving in right against the cat's shoulder, and sweeping him before he even had time to catch his breath and punched him in the gut, hard, and pushing Kyou to the ground in a flurry of attacks that the cat could barely even see, much less hold off. And even though they weren't strong enough to bruise, Kyou didn't cover his face, but insteaed, threw out his hands and caught hold of Yuki's. 

They both breathed heavily. 

"Let... go of me!" Yuki tried to pull away furiously, twisting his arms as Kyou made eye contact with him for the first time in half a week. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Kyou shouted. He tightened his grip on the rat's wrists. When the boy didn't answer, Kyou shoved him - hard - with his knees. "You've never lost control before!" 

Yuki glared at him icily, but didn't move. 

"I asked you a question, you damn rat! What the hell is going on?" 

"Nothing." 

"Shut up! I don't want to hear it!" Kyou shouted, suddenly flinging Yuki's wrists away, "I'm so damn tired of you talking and not saying anything. I don't know what the hell happened to me and I don't know what happened to you." 

Kyou got up and Yuki watched him from behind an expressionless mask. 

"You obviously don't give a damn, huh?" said the cat, more rhetorically than anything else. He brought a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes in frustration. "I don't know why I do, and it's pissing me off!" 

Kyou stormed to his feet, and Yuki moved himself upright, just in time to catch sight of the cat slamming the door to his room. 

"Damnit," Yuki swore, and buried his head in his hands. 

Outside the window, a biting wind swept through the trees, and the first fall frost broke across the earth. 

- - - -

Thanks for the reviews, guys! Umm, I think Yuki is feeling too guilty for manipulating Kyou, so he wouldn't give him a "catnip" treatment. But that's a good idea for the future, hmm? Alright, as I promised... the slash begins! Well, this wasn't exactly slash. I sort of liked how Kyou and Yuki interacted here. Yuki doesn't know how to act. Looks like his social skills are on the same level of Kyou's... white-belt novice. As always, tell me what you think! I'll update soon :D 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Plants  
Chapter 11

- - - -

Yuki was still in that position when the door opened four hours later. 

He knew, on some level, that he must've fallen asleep. This was apparent when he opened his eyes to find moonlight, spilt like milk across the floor of his room. He didn't care to move and just watched it bleakly through his red and tired eyes. Twin blotches of red remained around the edges of his eyes, shadowed and lightless. He watched the contorted shadows of the furniture drift as a cloud passed over the moon. 

One shadow began to recede, and Yuki idly followed the motion. He absorbed the sound of his door opening, so very slowly - in a way that he would've never noticed had he not been on the ground himself. 

"Hello?" asked Yuki, his voice rough and hoarse from salt. "Who's there?" 

The shadow darted across the room and out of Yuki's field of vision. The prince blinked once and buried his head into his arms. He closed his eyes and rubbed his cold nose against the inside of his elbow. "Please," he murmured, only half-trusting that he'd seen anything at all, "Do your worst. Kill me. I don't care." 

Nothing moved - except for Yuki, who curled deeper within himself, and the white cloud in the canopy of stars, outside the window. 

Maybe Kyou was dancing there, too. 

"I knew something was wrong," said the shadow, softly. Yuki's eyes suddenly widened, and he began to shake. 

"...Why are you back here?" 

Kyou, still somewhere behind the prince, began to pace on the wooden floorboards. 

"Well, you never answered my question, you damn rat," said Kyou in frustration, "And what the hell are you doing on the ground? Don't you sleep in your bed?" 

"Go away, cat," Yuki hissed. He had opened his eyes and cast his trembling - angry? passionate? - gaze out the window. "What, are you stupid? Leave!" 

"No." Kyou said, and stepped closer to the rat, and his scent began to filter it's way through the air and towards the rat. Yuki cringed in discomfort. 

"I figured out what happened. On Sunday, I mean. I'm still stupid, though." He laughed bitterly, "When... I left, I still could smell that... strange thing in my nostrils. I didn't know what to think, until I stumbled upon the source of it. The garden. Your secret base, right?" 

Yuki remained silent. 

Why did that damn cat have to ask so many questions? 

"I tried to go there and yell and kick your damn ass. Or piss you off by doing something to the garden, I'll admit it, okay? But... But I couldn't. The smell there, it was so strong that my body - not me but something else - couldn't take it. I don't remember anything, for hours. You were the one who woke me up. I mean, I heard you. Talking to yourself and to your vegetables. I was so angry at you. I just wanted to scream and hurt you, like I'd never hurt you before. For making me feel so confused. For nurturing those damn plants in your garden. And then... I was getting up to attack you... And I saw you, bent over like that. Kind of like you are, now. With all that dirt on you. Except you got angry, and... you destroyed it. Everything. The cabbages, the crysanthemums, and the cat..." Kyou trailed off, and was silent for a moment. "I thought you were trying to humiliate me. 

"To be completely under your control, under a drug, just by walking past a single leaf? I can understand why you would plant the catnip to blackmail me. I mean, I can't even think, you saw that yourself. What would Akito say, to know that I became putty in _your_ hands? 

"But after three days... you didn't say anything. Even when you had so many chances. It wasn't to humiliate me, then. You were the one who acted like you'd been mortified. So why else would you have catnip, you damn rat?" 

The silence was pronnounced enough that Yuki understood the question. The _interrogation_ Reluctantly, Yuki stirred from the safety of his folded arms. "If you expect me to answer you, I won't." 

Kyou stretched out, still safely hidden beneath the shadows. "You wanted to know why I came back here, didn't you? So I told you." 

The prince twitched, uncomfortable with being out of control. He closed his eyes tightly, refusing to accept the looming darkness that surrounded him in the center of the moon-basked room. 

"But you haven't told me... why you did it yet..." 

Kyou's next move took him entirely by surprise. 

"... _Yuki,_" whispered Kyou, and as Yuki's head shot up in shock, Kyou stepped forward, and the veil of darkness slid off of his shoulders and fell in a puddle at his stockinged feet. 

- - - -

What a place to leave you hanging, ne? Anyway, the conclusion fast approaches! I'd like to say that y'alls reviews left me in puddles at my desk. Thank you so much! In reply to Caer (who is infinitely more talented and makes me utterly embarassed), you're right! I take traditional Japanese Karate. Our sensei has been making us practice very intensely this past week, and on Friday, it had left me limping on both legs. It hurt to stand, sit... breathe... Haha, I often feel like Kyou - "I've trained in the mountains!" yes, and there were bears AND a waterfall! I didn't bathe/fight either of them, though. "Why can't I beat him? I've been training so much longer..." Well, that applies to me when I spar with my best friend in the world. I have to work so hard but I can't even get close! Blah. Anyway, because of that and some other stuff, I relate to Kyou quite a bit. Writing Yuki is so much more difficult... So I'm done with my ramble! You guys rock. And I think y'all will be surprised with what happens in next chapter. Insert evil laugh - here -. 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Makeout Scene warning.

Plants  
Chapter Twelve

- - - -

Yuki could have sworn in that moment, that he had never seen anything more beautiful in his entire life. 

He felt, suddenly, that he'd spent his entire life living in an unfavorable lie of fantasies. They held no comparison on _reality_, which held dimensions and sharpness and light hitting skin in places that struck Yuki as impossible. Because any of his intricate fantasies - all he'd ever hoped for and expected to see - suddenly held no comparison to the sight of Kyou, Kyou, standing before him, with his hair ruffled and his cheeks flushed in the chalky light of the moon. His eyes were a swirling mixture of crimson and plum, staring out at Yuki with a firey depth that the prince knew he'd never seen in the boy's eyes before. Yuki found himself swallowing under the heat from Kyou's striking gaze. The cat stood there as a perfect contrast of the frosty moonlight and the deep shadows. He was awestriking, just standing there with his hopeful eyes and... his lips were slightly parted. They held the color of the sunrise. 

But the rest of it, those were the things that overwhelmed Yuki. It was something that he could never have imagined, and knew that he would imagine for the rest of his life. Kyou's feet were clad in fine, white socks with laced ends that folded halfway up his trim calves. And then, skin; miles and miles of skin until a field of white frill-layered cotton petticoat, shivering at the midpoint of Kyou's thighs. A deep forest green composed the outer skirt, with a trim of roses that had no stems. It rested at the lowest valley of Kyou's hips. Past his toned abs and bare, inviting flesh, a black, eyelit trimmed corset was laced over an off-the-shoulders peasant top, held together by little bows at the sleeves. 

This, thought Yuki breathlessly, must be what Shigure bought at Ayame's shop. 

- - - -

Yuki felt his breath hitch and a telltale blush spread across his face. He knew that his eyes were wide beyond explanation. Clearly embarassed, Kyou stepped towards Yuki, who was stiffly attached to the floor, unable to say anything. Unable to think - just to take in the surreal boy before him. 

"Well, say something, won't you, Yuki?" Kyou blushed, his eyes fixed on his feet. Yuki opened his mouth and wished he could find words, something more coherent than a blustering mumble, even though the entire situation felt incomprehensible and strange. 

But, somehow... 

"Fine, damnit, I'll leave. Tell Ayame that he can rot in hell," growled Kyou, and Yuki suddenly took in the tenseness at his shoulders and the clenching of his muscles, and his words that spun inside of his head. And the fact that he had just turned around and it looked like the cat was trying to run away, again. 

"W-wait!" 

Kyou flinched and folded his arms protectively. "What?" 

Yuki paused for a moment, before fumbling around for words to say the only thing that mattered. "You - You said my name, you stupid cat." 

Yuki observed Kyou's face closely. His eyebrows were knit together in his practiced scowl, his eyes narrowed and his arms at his chest. But maybe - maybe - something had just changed in his expression. Maybe his eyes had truly softened, and not just in Yuki's mind. And perhaps Yuki wasn't tricked by shadows when he saw the boy's foot pause midair before stepping backwards. Maybe Yuki wasn't able to see everything, but what he saw helped him to catch his breath and begin to breathe again - shallow breaths, maybe - but that didn't matter. Kyou had stopped. Kyou had decided to _listen_ to Yuki. 

Yuki froze as well, as his own words suddenly became clear. For the first time in years, he'd _said_ something... that held meaning. He'd spoken from his heart. 

And suddenly the strength of Kyou's heart radiated warmth throughout Yuki's frost-visited room. 

"Yeah..." replied Kyou, softly. Yuki hardly remembered what they were talking about, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was Kyou telling him that... "I did." 

When he said that, Yuki felt himself melt. No one had ever been able to say that before. No one had been able to say... that they _understood._

That wasn't enough, though, and Kyou knew it. Because suddenly he had stepped forward and reached out and curled his fingers into the cloth of Yuki's sleeves. And suddenly the rat found himself pulled up onto his knees, and Kyou came crashing down on him with a thousand apologies in a single kiss. 

Kyou's lips were demanding against his. They were dominating, brash, and fierce, but this was not the kiss of a monster, nor the caress of a kitten, but overwhelming the taste and passion of a boy in love. A swirling headrush of questions screamed through Yuki's head at this sudden thought - _love? love? what do you know of love, rat? he's not in love, not with_ you_ - _ yet the overpowering taste of cinnamon tea broke Yuki's resistance. 

He felt his eyes flutter close as Kyou drew back for a moment, catching his breath and waiting. Yuki found himself falling forward into the sudden caress, his mind reeling. Because somehow Kyou had proven, without a doubt, that he had chosen this, and had chosen _him_. The moment passed, and Yuki's world swirled around the boy in front of him with the beauitful, hot, lips that had tentatively moved forward to taste Yuki again. The shock sent invisible ice fingertips racing down Yuki's spine. He shifted forward, awkwardly, moving towards Kyou and the heat, and timidly brought a hand into his blazing red hair. 

The strands slid through his fingers like silken yarn. Just as Yuki had always imagined. 

Except that this time, he didn't have to imagine a thing. 

Abruptly, reality came crashing down and Yuki crushed his cousin-rival-_lover_ in a desperate embrace. His arms snaked out to pull their chests tightly together, their hearst pounding ferociously, and Yuki raised his chin and bent into the kiss. He'd never kissed before, not with another boy, not with Kyou, not outside of a dream. 

This? This time, it was undescribably _real_. 

That horrible truth revealed itself - on the basest level of his semi-conscious mind - was that he'd never felt this type of an uncontrollable passion before. And the only other time he'd felt passion at all, had been with Kyou. It was Kyou who always pushed him to be emotional, and hell, no one else had ever been able to come close. 

Yuki leaned forward and pressed his lips against Kyou - already soft and swollen large - and he easily parted his mouth with a sudden thrust of his tongue. And then he was tasting Kyou, all that cinnamon, and being overwhelmed by the tastes and heat and incomprehensible closeness that felt increasingly distant. It was never enough. 

He moaned into Yuki's mouth, and the rat nibbled on the edge of Kyou's bottom lip for a moment before drawing briefly back. 

No, thought Yuki. He shifted upwards and ground his hips firmly against Kyou's. 

The next thing that either of them knew, Yuki lay sprawled across Kyou and the floor. Moonlit struck the space between Kyou's spread and stockinged feet, and Yuki moved over him, and they moved together and against each other with panting kisses and quiet moans. 

. . . .

Kyou settled down on the ground across from Yuki, his skirts pooled about him in a tight circle. A corner of his petticoat just barely grazed Yuki's leg. And the zodiac rat found himself embarassed by his rapidly beating heart. Kyou was so very, very close to him... 

They had never been this close before when they weren't fighting. 

"What's - why are you wearing that _thing_," said Yuki. His face was still flush, and his shirt had disappeared at some point and landed in a dusty corner of the room. He smelled of sweat and musk. He was _revealed_. The rat did not like to be open, because it meant that he could be touched by someone else. And the only times in his life when he'd been opened so completely... Akito had destroyed it. 

And Yuki was afraid. So afraid that Kyou would come to Yuki so completely _open_; that he was reading Kyou completelywrong; Afraid because he was so used to hating himself and scared to think it was possible that someone, someone who understood him, _didn't_ hate him at all. 

Yuki looked up to Kyou with lidded eyes. 

"Nezumi," Kyou murmured, slowly reaching out his trembling hand to touch Yuki's arm. The prince looked up into Kyou's eyes and wondered, vaguely, if Kyou was scared too. Or if, maybe, this was some sort of _test_ between them. 

"These - these muddy feelings," the gray-haired boy sat with crossed legs and placed his elbow on his knee, and his head in his hand, "...Why is it that, the things I always have to hide, are about _you_? I don't know why... But... Since sometimes recently... There have been too many time that they've come up in my mind. They've broken from their lid, I think, depressing all my thoughts. 

"I thought it over, maybe, like you did..." Yuki felt himself leaning slightly towards the cat, with lidded eyes, "I thought... when you said you knew the answer... I thought you would hate me. You... you _should,_ hate me. I don't understand why you came back." 

Kyou barely had to reach out his arm before he connected with solid flesh. He trailed his fingers down Yuki's forearm until they came to rest lightly on top of his hand. 

"You know, Yuki," Kyou whispered, staring once again into the smaller boy's eyes, "It took me four hours to come here, after we fought. You were right. About me being scared. I mean... not like too scared to fight or something. But I'm still weak and.. those feelings are still there. They're uncomfortable for me, too." 

Kyou smiled and bowed his head to Yuki's palm. "Last time... This felt so good," he sighed. 

"You were drugged," said Yuki. 

"Shutup," he hummed through a low growl, "It feels better... when I'm not." 

"Yes," agreed Yuki, moving closer to Kyou. Before he even realized what he was doing, Yuki had burrowed his right shoulder into the cat's chest, and had let Kyou draw his hand up to his lips. "You're very warm..." Yuki murmured. 

A strong arm pulled the rat in closer against him, and Yuki moved Kyou's head to rest on his shoulder. He then wrapped his arms tightly around the cat and felt a shock of sensation flood his nerves. Their ribs were aligned perfectly, their arms sinking into the folds of fabric and skin that seemed to connect them like jigsaw pieces. 

"You're so warm," Kyou nuzzled Yuki's shoulder, and breathed in deeply. "...You smell like the earth." 

"I haven't worked in the garden since... since I destroyed it," Yuki mumbled. Kyou kissed Yuki lightly on the palm, and Yuki felt like his world had exploded and beome something entirely new. 

Kyou spoke against his palm, "We can plant a new one." 

"I don't need to, anymore..." Yuki replied, and leaned back to look Kyou in the eyes. "You're my garden, you stupid cat." 

Kyou's laughter rang softly with his sudden purrs. He growled, gently, the words like a caress: _"You damn rat."_

Yuki's palm drew back and moved to rest on the flat of Kyou's chest. 

"Kyou," he began, his eyes falling to rest on a distant shadow in the corner of the room. "You know...I..." 

The cat raised his eyes and fixed them firmly into Yuki's. "I love you." 

Yuki swallowed. "I think that... Wait. Wait, what did you say?" 

"I said 'I love you,'" Kyou repeated, bluntly. "I've loved you so much, for a long time. I don't even know how long, because I can't even remember it all. Everyone always talked about how perfect you were... Because they were right. You're beautiful. And you hated me, and because of what I am, I had to hate you back.It's just... The past two weeks, when I went to Sensei's to train, I couldn't even make it inside without throwing up. It just reminded me that I had to fight you. To try to _hurt_ you... When all it did was prove to me that I'd never be good enough for you... It hurt so much... That it made me _sick_." Kyou paused and brought the back of his hand up to his eyes. 

A tear leaked through his pressed fingers. Yuki averted his eyes in discomfort, made even worse from the fact that tears had long ago come to rest at the edges of his eyes. 

Silence settled over the pair like a blanket, and Yuki sighed inaudibly. He shuffled his knees forward and rested his head in the crook of Kyou's neck. For some reason he could barely understand, a feeling of strength and protection emanated from the boy's skin. 

"Just... Don't do something stupid like that again," the violet-haired boy said at last, "I can't feed you anything to make you get better, now that my garden is gone." His eyes fluttered to a close. "So just don't do anything stupid." 

Kyou looked down at Yuki and in spite of himself, he felt his crimson eyes crinkle at the edges. He ruffled the boy's violet hair and trailed his fingers down his alabaster skin. The rat snuggled closer against him in reply. 

"Alright," Kyou said, and smiled, for what felt like the first time in his life.

"... I _promise._" 

- - - -

A/N: Lanie would like to ask the kindly audience to refrain from excessive anger at the wait for the forementioned chapter. Lanie also hopes for kind response, but in any case, requests that the flamer keeps in mind that there is one chapter left after this one. She would also like to apologize for the ridiculous wait... 


	13. Chapter Thirteen ::epilogue::

Plants  
_Epilogue_

- - - -

Ayame never liked to be woken early in the mornings, and he especially disliked waking up on the morning of the first frost of fall. So when the phone rang at 5 am, he heavily considered not moving from his comforter and Mine-chan at all. As it was, he stared into the long strands of his silver hair that mingled against her chestnut ringlets, and a surge of emotion was stirring in his heart. He reached out his arms to hold their hair together, to be as close to her as he could ever hope to be. Ayame found it soothing, and pointedly ignored the ringing phone.

The answering machine picked up, and, for some mysterious reason, the person on the other line did not wait for the beep but had, apparently, been ranting before even _calling_ Ayame. But when the snake heard Shigure's voice, he, of course, absolutely had to answer it because there was urgent Mabudachi trio business that needed to be discussed. And Mine's hair would always be beautiful next to his.

The snake flounced at the phone, his long sleeves covering the ear-piece as he held it to his ear.

"Ohayo, 'Gure-chan, is this morning treating you fairly!" he boomed, and dramatically swept his silver hair over his left shoulder. He wondered if there was a way he could license a 'hair-flick powder' that would actually make hair sparkle when desired. It would be just the thing for many men's dreams.

Shigure sulked from the other line. "This morning is typical and dreary. But it is as well as a morning can be without you, my dearest Aya," Shigure sulked from the other line. "Indeed, in your absence, a pivotal event has unfolded..."

"Does it have to do with my dearest brother, Yuki?"

Shigure laughed falsely, and suddenly, the snake's eyebrows shot up. "Is it about _the thing_, 'gure? Is it about the _the thing_? You gave it to Yuki, didn't you?"

He was not alone in A couple of feet away, Mine popped awake at the mention of _the thing_. "Did Yuki use _the thing_, Aya? Tell me, tell me! I wanna know!"

"Hahaha, my dearest Mine, Shigure has not yet said a word."

The snake cradled the phone in his hands. "It made Yuki look magnificent, did it not? I bet Kyon-Kyon didn't know what to do about fighting Yuki in that fantastic costume! It was perfectly designed to transform him into a desireable, young, German fruehler girl! With a beautiful petticoat-"

"- In deep greens, like those herbs he plants -"

"-And these fantastic stockings, they're rather beyond words-"

"- A schoolgirl! In apropriately matching cream," Mine agreed.

The two laughed in triumphance, until a couple of minutes had passed and Shigure cut in with a false cough. "Ahh, Ayaa," he said, gently as he could, "About 'the thing'... Yuki didn't want anything to do with it, I'm afraid..."

Ayame paused, waiting for Shigure to recant himself. When Shigure said nothing else, Ayame brought his free hand to his forehead and began to tremble with horror. "This is terrible news, 'Gure-san..." He moved the phone slightly away from his shoulder.

"Mine, Yuki trashed my affections like a pair of shoes - again!"

The brunnette wiped a tear from her, currently, un-lensed eye. "That's awful, Aya. The thing would've looked so beautiful... And we'd worked so hard on it together!"

"I will have to commit sepuku," decided Ayame, now clutching his heart, "To try and right the unrightable wrongs to Yuki-chan..."

"Wait! Wait, my love!" cried out Shigure, crackling from the other line. "Yuki was indeed head-over-heels in thanks to your incredible designing prowess! He wanted nothing to do with it himself, you see, so he found another to assist him in wearing it..."

Mine-chan, now donning glasses, had sidled up behind Ayame and leaned towards him, perilously perching her head onto his shoulder.

"...And actually," continued the writer, fondly, "It is beyond words. You will simply have to see it yourself," exclaimed Shigure, and Ayame couldn't help but imitate him by bringing two fingers to rest on the ridge of his nose. "He made a lovely image with his lover..."

"What's Shigure talking about?" Mine murmured.

Ayame turned to Mine, literally glowing with pride. "The first morning of prenuptial bliss, Mine! Little Yuki has gotten laid! I MUST GO AND CONGRATULATE HIM IMMEDIATELY! SWAP STORIES OF CONQUEST!"

"Now, now, Aya. Your brother might not appreciate being woken at this time in the morning. Judging from the noises I kept hearing, it was a long night for them," Shigure paused, his mood suddenly taking a 360, "And it was a very, very long and _lonely_ night for me..."

"Don'tworryShigure,I'llvisityousoon. But really, Yuki used the thing, didn't he!" Ayame shouted, and took a brief pause to laugh insanely with his hands (and the phone) on his hips. Mine cocked her head and watched with sparkling eyes. At last, Aya recovered and turned back to the phone with a more serious tone. "Tell me, 'Gure. It went well, did it not?"

"Oh, yes, Aya. I think it went very well. It reminds me of our first time to sleep over," Shigure _audibly_ winked over the phone, "And I believe that the two lovebirds are curled up together on the floor, even now."

"My, my, didn't make it to bed, did we!" Aya paused to yell after Mine, who had by this point, begun cooking breakfast in disregard of the early hour. "My little brother is taking after me very well, Mine! He didn't even get to the bed for his first time! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Well done, Aya!" she laughed, and waved an spatula with pastry batter high up in the air.

Ayame talked for a bit longer before hanging up the phone, and sank onto his futon. Mine walked in a moment later with two cups of Aya's special green tea. She sat down next to him, put down the o-cha, and automatically pulled his head into her lap.

"Oh, Mine," he said to her, a soft smile breaking across his face. "It took them a while, but they've been nurturing this for years. I'm so... relieved that my little brother finally found his happiness. Even if it is with Kyou... Even if it has very little to do with me."

"Don't say that, Ayame. You helped plant the seeds," she replied, cradling his head, "And _the thing_ brought them to each other after all."

Ayame closed his eyes, and sighed regretabbly. "The cat lover wore it."

"Oh," Mine blanched, "I didn't exactly think of him as that... type."

"He's not," said Aya blandly, opening his eyes and wrinkling them at the edges, "He would be far nicer in leather or _chains_. Oh yes, I can see it. Perfect! I think that Yuki will find men's romance is most unescapable."

Mine shook her head with tinkling bell laughter, turning her fingers through his hair.

Together, in the twilight prior to sunrise and the darkness that overwhelmed their days, Mine and Ayame sat in contentment. And together they drank to a new morning.

_Fin Plants._

But if you want more, who am I to stop you?

**Check out the Sequel, "ACHE".** Completed 10/26/06.


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